Education and Lifelong Learning Watch 2015 | UK

In the UK, a large proportion of young people have comparatively low levels of basic skills and apprenticeships, especially those delivered ‘in house’ by organisations are critically acclaimed because many qualifications are too context specific and the may not prepare people for another role in a different organisation. However, a positive highlight is that the education budget was protected and therefore not cut in 2015, which is a positive development during a period of significant budget cuts in the UK.

Recommendations

Address skills mismatches by increasing employers’ engagement in the delivery of apprenticeships. Take action to further reduce the number of young people with low basic skills;

Further improve the availability of affordable, high- quality, full-time childcare;

Develop a UK-wide approach to the validation of non-formal and informal learning;

Improve the transition from VET to higher education and reduce the gap between them;

Take action in order to fight the discrimination of education systems towards vulnerable groups and ensure that employers are more inclusive.